Neko Majin
Neko Majin (ネコマジン) is a short series of one-shot manga chapters by Akira Toriyama, spanning a total of eight installments released from 1999 to 2005. It is most notable for its later portion, "Neko Majin Z," which is a self-parody of Dragon Ball, the author's most famous work. Introduction Originally a one-shot bearing little relation to Akira Toriyama's other series, the first chapter of Neko Majin appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump in April 1999 (WJ #22-23). Though there were some similarities, it did not become a self-parody of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga until "Neko Majin Z," which had cameos of characters from the author's magnum opus. As of 2005, the series was completed with eight total chapters (five of which are Dragon Ball parodies). These chapters were compiled into a "kanzenban"-style package for release in Japan on 4 April 2005. General information The series revolves around the adventures of various characters from the Neko Majin race, a group of cats that can use a little bit of magic, and seem to enjoy practical jokes and martial arts even more. It eventually spins off into "Neko Majin Z", centralizing around Neko Majin Z, a cat-like version of Goku complete with a Power Pole and typically Dragon Ball Z-style attacks, such as the "Nekohameha". Other familiar motifs show up during the course of the series, including Frieza's son Kuriza, a fat Super Saiyan named Onio, and even cameos by actual Dragon Ball characters Vegeta, Majin Buu, and Goku and his family (Chi-Chi, Ox-King, Goten, Pan and Uub). Despite the references to Dragon Ball, the series itself is not a continuation of the manga series. Although the connection is tenuous, several references to "Neko Majin Z" were added as Easter eggs to the Japanese version of the video games Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 and Dragon Ball Z 2 V (notably in the form of Kuriza as an alternate outfit for Frieza, complete with a chestnut-shaped Death Ball attack), and Z makes an appearance as a secret support character in the Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 on the Nintendo DS. Releases Original serialization All chapters of Neko Majin were originally published in Weekly/Monthly Shōnen Jump in Japan. *"Neko Majin ga Iru" (ネコマジンがいる, "Neko Majin is Here"): April 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #22-23) *"Neko Majin ga Iru 2": August 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #37-38) *"Neko Majin Mike" (ネコマジンみけ): August 2003 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 2003 #37-38) *"Neko Majin Z" (ネコマジン Z): June 2001 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2001 #6) *"Neko Majin Z 2": August 2003 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2003 #9) *"Neko Majin Z 3": February 2004 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2004 #3) *"Neko Majin Z 4": January 2005 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2005 #1) *"Neko Majin Z 5": February 2005 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2005 #2) Collected release All eight chapters are collected in one volume, published by Shueisha's Jump Comics imprint. *Neko Majin Kanzenban ("Complete Edition"): 4 April 2005 (ISBN 4-08-873825-X) English-language release Viz has translated the English version of Neko Majin chapter 4, titled "Neko Majin Z", that is in the October 2007 issue of Shonen Jump. Characters Category:Dragon Ball media Category:Related Manga